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Tonka night bite...


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I'm going out on tonka tonight. Anybody have any advice for me? I was thinking of trolling some cranks, drifting, and/or jig minnow.

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cupper,

I'll be out doing the same thing tonight. I have been working Wayzata and Browns most of the year and have caught a few eyes, but nothing real consistent. I usually just jig with a fat head and work weedlines and mid 20ft range too. I am expecting a lot of boat traffic tonight, so I will be trying to avoid the crowds and may start a bit deeper and then once things settle down work the weedline depths around 15-18ft. I have trolled cranks a bit, but get tired of reeling in to pull surface weeds off every 20 yards. Check out the "walleys on tonka" thread a few sections down and that may give a few pointers. I wish I had more to offer..

Good luck

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Thanks anchor man! Any help is useful. I am new to the area and this will be the 2nd time out on minnetonka. I will probably try the upper west lake area.

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Try Halsted's - channel mouth and along the east shore. Little or no boat traffic is an added plus. Pretty much any weedline can have walleyes on it but the steeper drops around the islands (Eagle and Crane) give you a better shot. The main lake will be too busy until after sundown to do anything but troll. I have had success trolling the weedline in Spring Park bay and main lake area there using leadcore to get #5 Shad raps down to the bottom. Chartreuse and blue are the best colors with pearl right behind. Problem there is you will catch a dozen northerns for every walleye.

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I'll be out there tonight working browns bay and working the hump in Wayzata Bay. Should be with the wife and the dog, if you see a lund explorer and a german shepherd mix say hello
good luck
(was also out on browns last night, no live bait so flipping plastics alongside the reef and the docks, 2 small bass, was a tough night

------------------
To be the man you have to beat the man....Wooooooooo

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Hey guys! Well, after 4 1/2 hours I caught two snakes and missed a few hits. I wasn't very productive. I should've read the thing about halsted's bay before I went out - that are looks promising. I had most of my action around Crane Island trolling a DT-10 (fire tiger). I had one hit on a lindy rig w/ fathead but she got off. It was a little discouraging, but I still have alot to learn - like not to spend much time in the main lake... holy s@#$ people fly through there, and they don't care how close they are to you!!! anyway... thanks for all your help guys. hopefully I'll start having some success soon and I'll be able to help you out.

-cupper

p.s. 12 northerns per walleye would make me very happy - I love to catch pike!

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Quick question...

How do you guys deal with the slime on minnetonka? That **** is so annoying and it fouls up my baits every 3 min, and it clings to even the most weedless baits. Is there a speciffic algal bloom right now or is it that bad all year long?

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I made the mistake of trying to work the hump in wayzata bay at about 7 pm friday evening. Didn't quite realize the anchors had no chance of holding with the Boats zooming right past me. After about 15 minutes of that I went back to Browns Bay to get skunked. It seemed when I lived in Maple Grove every time I went down to Tonka I had good luck (most of it though I think because I would get on the lake by 5 a.m. but now that I live close to it I'm getting lazy and trying to fish afternoon/dusk and theres a lot more traffic). Now that I live near it so far its been tough this year. As far as the slime Cupper your guess is as good as mine. Even Texas rigged I still had to take weeds off every time I brought the plastic worm in bass fishing.
good luck

------------------
To be the man you have to beat the man....Wooooooooo

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Cupper,

For the slime on your lindy....try a float on your lindy rig. It will keep you off the bottom and your hook and leech/minnow out of the slime!

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Could not imagine the traffic on taht lake Frday night - Sunday night!!! I bet they were out there 24 hours at a time

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Just a little tip...take a rubber band and tie it too your line about two feet above your hook. The rubber band will catch a majority of the clutter. not a 100% effective but darn close.

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